5 ms·

As someone who works at a not-small tech company, I try to practice the whole "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". After all, most tech companies ex

As someone who works at a not-small tech company, I try to practice the whole "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". After all, most tech companies exhibit some behavior that is objectionable. But Facebook... I honestly don't know how their employees are comfortable working there.

redonkulus 5y ago
Easy ... money
josephg 5y ago
> I honestly don't know how their employees are comfortable working there. Probably most of the people who don’t feel comfortable with facebook’s role in society have already selected themselves out of the employee pool. If you’re the sort of engineer Facebook wants to hire, and you have a strong sense of ethics, there’s no shortage of well paid work you could do instead. The people who end up at FB are the people who don’t see a problem or don’t care.
- gorwell 5y ago
  This is why resumes with recent FB history should be thrown in the trash.
  - coolspot 5y ago
    By the same logic, should people with criminal history also not be considered for any jobs?
    - fortuna86 5y ago
      People with with criminal histories show remorse.
      - fortuna86 5y ago
        Everyone I know that has taken a big bag of money from FB is still in denial about what they've done to the world.
    - shkkmo 5y ago
      People with criminal histories have paid their debt to society and absolutely should be givem jobs. People with a history of unethical behavior for which they are unapologetic and never faced other consequences should face additional scrutiny.
  - ramphastidae 5y ago
    I understand the sentiment but don’t think that’s fair. Not everyone gets to choose from their pick of job offers, and some people have serious financial commitments and dependents. If FB is the only job offer you have that pays the bills, is it really wrong to take it?
    - LurkingPenguin 5y ago
      > If FB is the only job offer you have that pays the bills, is it really wrong to take it? At least on the engineering, product management, etc. side of things, if you can get an offer at FB, it's highly unlikely you can't get offers elsewhere. Of course, there are only so many companies that can offer FB level compensation. Which, if we're being honest, is why FB continues to be an employer of choice for so many people despite its atrocious ethics track record.
    - evgen 5y ago
      I have FB on my resume. I make hiring decisions. I will delete any applicant who was at FB over the past three years without a moment's hesitation. You do not take an FB offer to 'pay the bills', you take it because you want to acquire a big pile of money. There was a point pre-IPO where you could think that you were actually trying to do something cool, interesting, and overall were helping people stay connected with each other. Then there was a point where you could tell yourself that you were working on some big and interesting problems and if you didn't do your job well or nail some very tricky problems then it would have a negative impact on people's lives (or even get people killed if you messed up security/privacy and revealed info about some people.) Then one day you wake up and realize you are a prostitute working in Zuck's brothel, but unlike a real sex worker your actions are ending up fucking millions of people a day. If you don't leave at this point you are as unethical as the people around you.
      - ramphastidae 5y ago
        Wow. So do you have a list of objective criteria you use to decide which list of companies is morally acceptable for your candidates to have worked at, or are you just coming up with an arbitrary list based on your emotions and limited personal experience? Isn’t this also incredibly hypocritical given that you admit to working at FB yourself in the past? Shouldn’t you technically fire yourself, or do you of course consider your circumstances an exception?
fber 5y ago
Everything feels horrible until RSUs get air-dropped, which numb the pain enough to continue working there.
bongoman37 5y ago
They pay extremely well. I have a friend who moved to Facebook and complained all the time the first couple of months, but the third month or so he was like even with London living expenses the money is really great.

redonkulus 5y ago

Easy ... money

josephg 5y ago

> I honestly don't know how their employees are comfortable working there. Probably most of the people who don’t feel comfortable with facebook’s role in society have already selected themselves out of the employee pool. If you’re the sort of engineer Facebook wants to hire, and you have a strong sense of ethics, there’s no shortage of well paid work you could do instead. The people who end up at FB are the people who don’t see a problem or don’t care.

gorwell 5y ago
This is why resumes with recent FB history should be thrown in the trash.
- coolspot 5y ago
  By the same logic, should people with criminal history also not be considered for any jobs?
  - fortuna86 5y ago
    People with with criminal histories show remorse.
    - fortuna86 5y ago
      Everyone I know that has taken a big bag of money from FB is still in denial about what they've done to the world.
  - shkkmo 5y ago
    People with criminal histories have paid their debt to society and absolutely should be givem jobs. People with a history of unethical behavior for which they are unapologetic and never faced other consequences should face additional scrutiny.
- ramphastidae 5y ago
  I understand the sentiment but don’t think that’s fair. Not everyone gets to choose from their pick of job offers, and some people have serious financial commitments and dependents. If FB is the only job offer you have that pays the bills, is it really wrong to take it?
  - LurkingPenguin 5y ago
    > If FB is the only job offer you have that pays the bills, is it really wrong to take it? At least on the engineering, product management, etc. side of things, if you can get an offer at FB, it's highly unlikely you can't get offers elsewhere. Of course, there are only so many companies that can offer FB level compensation. Which, if we're being honest, is why FB continues to be an employer of choice for so many people despite its atrocious ethics track record.
  - evgen 5y ago
    I have FB on my resume. I make hiring decisions. I will delete any applicant who was at FB over the past three years without a moment's hesitation. You do not take an FB offer to 'pay the bills', you take it because you want to acquire a big pile of money. There was a point pre-IPO where you could think that you were actually trying to do something cool, interesting, and overall were helping people stay connected with each other. Then there was a point where you could tell yourself that you were working on some big and interesting problems and if you didn't do your job well or nail some very tricky problems then it would have a negative impact on people's lives (or even get people killed if you messed up security/privacy and revealed info about some people.) Then one day you wake up and realize you are a prostitute working in Zuck's brothel, but unlike a real sex worker your actions are ending up fucking millions of people a day. If you don't leave at this point you are as unethical as the people around you.
    - ramphastidae 5y ago
      Wow. So do you have a list of objective criteria you use to decide which list of companies is morally acceptable for your candidates to have worked at, or are you just coming up with an arbitrary list based on your emotions and limited personal experience? Isn’t this also incredibly hypocritical given that you admit to working at FB yourself in the past? Shouldn’t you technically fire yourself, or do you of course consider your circumstances an exception?

fber 5y ago

Everything feels horrible until RSUs get air-dropped, which numb the pain enough to continue working there.

bongoman37 5y ago

They pay extremely well. I have a friend who moved to Facebook and complained all the time the first couple of months, but the third month or so he was like even with London living expenses the money is really great.